Books Review: "Rules for a Knight"

One of the things I hope to do on this blog is to review books that deal with the issue of chivalry and knighthood, focusing on the message the books provide and how they can help with being more knightly in everyday life.

First on this list is a book I randomly got about a year ago, entitled "Rules for a Knight."  The book is written by the actor and writer Ethan Hawke, and was written as a guide book for behavior for his children.  Under the guise of a found manuscript by an acestor who, on his way to a battle he didn't think he would survive, wrote this book for his children then as a way to teach them to be good people when they grow and he wasn't there.

Each chapter is preceded by the subject of the chapter, ranging from Humility to Pride, Solitude and friendship.  After a quick piece of advice about the subject, suggesting how to view the world through that word.  Then, the rest of the short chapter is the ancestor telling a story of when he himself was in training from his Grandfather, a man knighted after Agincourt.  The story always deals with the subject of the chapter through these stories.

Most of the stories are new to me, but there are a few that I had heard from other cultures and places before.  They all do a good job of exemplifying the subject of the chapter, concluding with the "author" giving another summary in new words to the subject of the chapter.

Overall, this book is a great guide for anyone, age 5 to 55, on lessons and musing about living a worthwhile and happy life.  I can honestly say it has helped me a few times to see things in a different light.  As stated above, I was randomly waiting in a book store while my wife was searching for books as Christmas presents for people, and the simple cover and letters of this small book caught my eye.  It wasn't expensive at all, and I soon found myself engrossed in it.

This would be a good book to read the 3-5 page chapters to a small child every night, or as something to just read a chapter here or there as a reminder as an adult.  Some especially poignant chapters to me were the ones about Solitude, Humility, Grace and Speech. 

I hope you find it the same as I did.